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Castellanos, Santa Lucia, Matahambre, Esperanza
Cuba
Main commodities: Zn Pb Ag


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Castellanos is one of a number of shale hosted massive sulphide deposits located in north-western Cuba.

These deposits are hosted by the 3000 m thick Jurassic San Cayetano Formation, a terriginous assemblage of feldspathic sandstones, siltstones and argillites with black shale lenses and dolomite beds.   In addition several bedded, but non-sulphide, barite deposits occur to the south-west.   All of the Zn-Pb deposits are stratabound and are hosted by black shales which occur as thick lenses enclosed by quartzofeldspathic sandstones and silts.

The principal structure comprises an antiform, truncated by the north-west to south-east directed regional Viñales overthrust which emplaced a complex faulted mixture of Jurassic limestone and chaotic heterolithic tectonic melange breccias of various volcanics and serpentinised ophiolites in a silty matrix onto the sediments of the San Cayetano Formation.

The main deposits include:
Castellanos - which comprises a 700 m long stratabound lens that is 4.6 to 76 m thick and extends down dip for a maximum of 300 m.   It is composed of pyrite, sphalerite and galena in a hydrothermal quartz-carbonate-barite matrix, with very little associated internal shale or clastics.   The fabric of the massive sulphides vary from massive, to banded to brecciated.   The north-eastern end of the deposit overlies a transgressive copper stringer zone, where the basal part of the massive sulphide is composed exclusively of dolomite.   It has reserves of some 12 Mt @ 2.4% Zn, 3.2% Pb, 43 g/t Ag, 7.9% Ba
Santa Lucia - is a 19.6 Mt bedded Zn-Pb-Ba occurrence that is not underlain by a transgressive chalcopyrite stringer zone.
Matahambre - essentially a Cu deposit with mined production and reserves totalling around 13 Mt of massive chalcopyrite and pyrite, overlain by a small (1.8 Mt) stratiform lense of Zn-Pb mineralisation and underlain by a 0.5 Mt zone of crosscutting chalcopyrite stringers.
Esperanza - is a 2.5 Mt chalcopyrite stringer zone without associated chalcopyrite.

For detail see the reference(s) listed below.

The most recent source geological information used to prepare this decription was dated: 1995.    
This description is a summary from published sources, the chief of which are listed below.
© Copyright Porter GeoConsultancy Pty Ltd.   Unauthorised copying, reproduction, storage or dissemination prohibited.


    Selected References
Whitehead R E, Davies J F, Valdes-Nodarse E L, Diaz-Carmona A  1996 - Mineralogical and chemical variations, Castellanos shale-hosted Zn-Pb-Ba deposit, northwestern Cuba: in    Econ. Geol.   v91 pp 713-722


Porter GeoConsultancy Pty Ltd (PorterGeo) provides access to this database at no charge.   It is largely based on scientific papers and reports in the public domain, and was current when the sources consulted were published.   While PorterGeo endeavour to ensure the information was accurate at the time of compilation and subsequent updating, PorterGeo, its employees and servants:   i). do not warrant, or make any representation regarding the use, or results of the use of the information contained herein as to its correctness, accuracy, currency, or otherwise; and   ii). expressly disclaim all liability or responsibility to any person using the information or conclusions contained herein.

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